Former Warren substitute teacher admits to child porn possession

A former substitute teacher in Warren admitted guilt to child pornography possession and using a computer to commit a crime.

Mark G. Brittan, 37, of Hazel Park, is scheduled to be sentenced April 23 in Macomb County Circuit Court in Mount Clemens after pleading guilty earlier this month to two charges.

Brittan, who substituted for about four years in Van Dyke Public Schools, pleaded under an agreement with Judge Richard Caretti in which he will be sentenced in the bottom one-third of the sentencing range, according to court records. The range, however, is in dispute; it’s either between probation and 17 months or five and 23 months behind bars. The judge will choose the range after expected arguments from Brittan’s defense attorney, Jack Jaffe, and assistant Macomb prosecutor William Harding.

The maximum prison term is seven years for the computer crime and four years for the possession charge.

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Investigators from the Macomb Area Computer Enforcement team say they found multiple images of sexually abusive activity involving children on Brittan’s computer seized by police from his home last June.

Officials and parents of Brittan’s students were concerned about the possibility of local children being in the pornographic images. But police determined no local youths were involved as Brittan only downloaded images remote locations to his computer.

The investigation was triggered after a complaint that Brittan in April took a group photo of students and an individual photo of a female student, without the consent of their parents, in violation of district policy. He was not allowed to teach again and was charged in August.

Brittan, who worked for a company that supplied substitute teachers, has been free after posting a $1,000 cash bond.